Willard Katsande

Willard Katsande (born 15 January 1986 in Mutoko) is a Zimbabwean retired professional footballer and coach, a former player of South African Premiership club Kaizer Chiefs and the Zimbabwe national team. He also played with Premiership sides Ajax Cape Town and Sekhukhune United.

Club career

Early career Known as a midfield work-horse, Willard Katsande began his career playing for local lower division clubs in Zimbabwe such as Frontier Steel (2002–2005), Feruka (2006–2007) and a popular giant killing club from Mutare, called Highway (2007–2009) from where he was recruited to play for Gunners F.C. in Harare for the 2009–10 season.

Gunners F.C. At Gunners, Katsande made a huge contribution to the club's campaign in the CAF Champions League qualifiers. He was in irresistible form as the Gunners shocked African giants Al-Ahly 1–0 at Rufaro Stadium in the Champions League second round match before eventually bowing out on 2–1 aggregate, after losing the reverse encounter 2–0 in Cairo. The Gunners would however finish 1st in their league, clinching the title as Zimbabwean Premier League Champions for the 2009–10 season.

Ajax Cape Town Willard Katsande made his professional debut for Ajax Cape Town on 12 December 2010 in a 2–0 win against Mpumalanga Black Aces at Atlantic Stadium in Witbank. He was acquired by Ajax Cape Town in the summer of 2010 as a transfer from Zimbabwean club Gunners F.C., having left a lasting impression on the club by his earlier performance with the Gunners in the CAF Champions League qualifiers.

Kaizer Chiefs On 15 August 2011 Katsande joined Kaizer Chiefs, after Chiefs manager Bobby Motaung saw his performance while attending an international friendly match between Zimbabwe and Zambia. Katsande made his debut on 10 September 2011 in the MTN 8 final against Orlando Pirates coming in for Tshabalala in the 81st minute. In his first 12 league matches for Chiefs, Katsande got 5 yellow cards.

Katsande scored his first official goal on 15 March 2014 in the Soweto derby against Orlando Pirates, the same team he made his debut against, being a header in the 61st minute in a 1–0 win. He scored almost on the goal line and headed past Senzo Meyiwa. Katsande was the biggest winner at the Kaizer Chiefs Awards on 21 May 2014. He won Players' Player of the Season, May Player of the Month, Fan Player of the Season and Online Player of the Season and Player of the Season awards. He pocketed R230 000 in total prize-money after taking home most of the Awards. He scored his second official goal for Chiefs in a 2–1 win loss to Black Leopards in the Nedbank Cup on 21 March 2015, exactly 371 days after scoring his first. He won the MTN8 and his second league title in 2014–15.

International career Katsande was called up for national duty to represent Zimbabwe as of 2010, after his successful run with the Gunners, playing for the country's 2012 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying campaign.

Career statistics Club .

International .

International goals . Scores and results list Zimbabwe's goal tally first.

GoalDateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition 1 10 August 2011 National Sports Stadium, Harare, Zimbabwe 1–0 2–0 Friendly 2 1 June 2014 National Sports Stadium, Harare, Zimbabwe 2–2 2–2 2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualification

Honours

Gunners Zimbabwe Premier Soccer League: 2009–10

Ajax Cape Town Telkom Knockout runner-up: 2010

Kaizer Chiefs Premiership: 2012–13, 2014–15 Nedbank Cup: 2012–13 MTN 8: 2014